Tower Hamlets Respect Party last night decided by an overwhelming majority not to stand a candidate in the mayoral election. Instead Tower Hamlets Respect calls on on all its members, supporters and voters to vote for Lutfur Rahman to be Tower Hamlets’ first executive mayor.

The reasons for this decision are two-fold.

Firstly, Lutfur has been the subject of a vicious witch-hunt orchestrated from within the Labour party and fuelled from without by the extreme right wing press. This has demonised both Lutfur and significant sections of the Muslim community with a thinly veiled anti-Muslim racism. We welcome the fact that Lutfur saw off the despicable attempt inside the Labour Party to keep him off Labour’s selection shortlist and then to win with a large majority over his rivals. But we have no doubt that the witch-hunting and the smears against him will continue.

Secondly, Lutfur has declared since his selection that he wishes to build a broad coalition against the terrible cuts that the Condem government wishes to impose on the less well-off, the disadvantaged and the ordinary working people in this borough. We welcome this very much and we want to be part of that coalition to help ensure that those words are turned into action when Lutfur is elected, as we are sure he will be, on October 21st.

The programme of government we want to see from Mayor Lutfur Rahman includes

– Defence of public services and jobs

– Action to end the housing crisis by breaking with Labour’s previous failed policies

– Fighting all racism and discrimination

– Better schools and community facilities and safer neighbourhoods

– Making the Olympics deliver for the people of East London

George Galloway commented: “We are proud of the crucial role Respect played in establishing a directly elected mayor in Tower Hamlets. This is a much more democratic system. I also stated that Lutfur Rahman was the kind of mayor we needed at the rally against the English Defence League three months ago. I am very pleased that he has finally been selected as Labour’s mayoral candidate. He will have my support in this election on the basis that he will lead the fight against the cuts from this terrible Condem government.”

Respect will be vigorously contesting the forthcoming by-election in Spitalfields and Banglatown that will occur as a result of Lutfur’s election, which we predict Respect will win, and the GLA elections in 2012.

And

Carole Swords, the chair of Tower Hamlets Respect, this morning spoke about the difficult decision Respect had had to make over the mayoral election. “We campaigned very hard for the referendum that Labour wanted to deny the people of Tower Hamlets and we were delighted when the people voted by a large majority for a directly elected mayor. This was never about setting something up that Respect could exploit, contrary to the smears put about by some in the Labour Party and others. It was about establishing a democratic and accountable system of governance in Tower Hamlets, unlike what has gone on here for so many years.

“As an electoral party, the members always want to contest elections wherever and whenever it is good for the people to do so. In this case, however, the overwhelming majority of Tower Hamlets Respect concluded we are dealing with unusual conditions. Lutfur Rahman has been subject to a terrible witch-hunt and yet he has shown his mettle by coming through it and convincingly winning selection. More than that, he has spoken of his determination to fight the cuts on the basis of the broadest possible coalition.

“It’s for these two reasons we are going to support him. I would emphasise we are not supporting the Labour Party which has done so much damage in Tower Hamlets, we are supporting this particular candidate, just as we supported Ken Livingstone in the London mayoral election. But we give notice that we will be voting for Lutfur on the basis he leads the fight against the Condem cuts. If he fails in that duty to the people of Tower Hamlets, we will be his fiercest critics.”

I’ve asked Respect for details of their vote last night, but so far they have declined to reply. I’ve also asked them to explain why, if they thought Lutfur was so good, they tried to oust him from his council seat in Spitalfields in May. I suppose that’s when Respect still had ambitions of being a proper player in Tower Hamlets. Those days seem to have gone.

Or have they? If Lutfur wins in October there will be a by-election in Spitalfields in which Respect will field a candidate, most likely their former town hall leader, Abjol Miah. I would not be surprised if he won, with not a little help from Lutfur’s backers. Many then predict that Respect would expect Lutfur to fulfill the pledge outlined in the statement above, ie a “determination to fight the cuts on the basis of the broadest possible coalition”.

Would that mean a cabinet seat for Abjol? Conspiracy? Perhaps, but let’s see. Funny how some of the other theories labelled conspiracy months ago are now in fact fact today.

So, while we do not have a Lib Dem/Tory coalition candidate, we do have a Labour/Respect coalition of sorts, or at least a Lutfur Camp/Respect coalition. It’s also worth noting that some of Lutfur’s leading supporters are ex-Respect councillors, Oli Rahman, Lutfa Begum and Rania Khan. They left Respect because they could no longer stand the direction Abjol seemed to be taking the party. What political somersaults they’ve been doing!

By the way, here’s the dictionary definition of ‘pact':

n -agreement or compact between two or more parties, nations, etc, for mutual advantage

UPDATE – 6.30pm

Just spoke to a spokesman for the London Labour party who has rejected speculation that the National Executive Committee has to rubber stamp Lutfur’s selection. He said: “I’ve double-checked it and as far as we are concerned it’s all done and dusted. Lutfur is our candidate.”

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15 Responses

I really dont like the idea of Respect worming thier way into the Council, when they were so clearly and comprehesively thrashed in the May elections. Abjol Miah needs to respect the view of the people of Tower Hamlets and move on with his life.

Respects statement today reinforces the argument that your blogs and indeed Andrew Gilligans blogs do have truth to them. I really hope the Labour party NEC now finally realise just exactly what they have accelerated here in Tower Hamlets. The very Respect party that claims to have campaigned for a directly electd mayor was simply a front for Lutfur Rahmans Labour party which has always consisted of support from Respect activists. This pact between Lutfur Rahmans Labour group and Respect did not just happen today, it has been on-going for months. Labour candidates at several wards were targeted by Respect candidates with support from pro-Lutfur activists in a bid to oust them to ensure that Lutfur Rahman remains leader but that failed due to the unexpected surge of Labour turnout on May 6th. Just take former Labour councillors Fazlul Haque and Salim Ullah as an example?

It continued throughout the process to select a mayoral candidate for Labour where hoardes of Respect candidates and activists were helping Lutfur Rahman win his campaign. They were also at Lutfur Rahmans Launch party at the Troxy. We have to now understand that Tower Hamlets council has been infiltrated and taken over by IFE members and sadly in time, the Bangladeshi Muslim community will be branded just like the BNP – only this time, it will not just be the 13 BNP councillors in Barking and Dagenham that get ousted, it wil be the 41 Labour councillors in Tower Hamlets that will fall victim to this very dangerous scenario.

I bet my bottom dollar that after Lutfur wins the Mayoralty, and if members are given the opportunity to select their by-election candidate, Lutfur will ensure that they field either a very weak Asian candidate, or a white candidate with no intention of helping him/her winning, but to simply give Respect the opportunity to elect a Respect councillor. I would not be surprised if that man was former councillor, Abjol Miah, the man who criticised Lutfur Rahmans leadership himself.

This is a kind of ‘Dead Poets Society’. You’re either in it and part of it, or you have no role to play in governing Tower Hamlets. One can only quiet rightly blame Labour party HQ allowing farmed manufactured members to vote for a candidate that colludes with the extremist Respect.

Final Question, I wonder if Lutfur Rahman as Mayor will now allow current Respect chair, Carole Swords back into the council chamber after being banned for throwing a cup of water over close Mayoral aide Cllr. Marc Francis?

Lutfur’s walking a tight-rope. Getting into bed with local and influential business men is one thing, jumping in with Respect is another. Can he keep this “coalition” together?

At the end of the day, voters will get what they ask for. The facts are clear. You vote for Lutfur, scum like Abjol will have a way back into Tower Hamlets politics, in one way or the other.

I wonder what the Lutfur Camp’s “public” view is on this? It’s a stupid move. Lutfur should’ve persuaded them to put up a dummy candidate and take all the 2nd preference votes. But I think they’ve got so cocky that they believe it’s in the bag and want to parade the “broad” support they have. Maybe they’re right, maybe it is in the bag… Thanks Labour Party!

Ted, your handy definition of a pact explicitly states that two parties have to make an agreement for it to be a pact. You haven’t provided any evidence that the Labour Party has done this. Of course, this is because it hasn’t. If it had, the news that the Labour Party has entered into an agreement with George Galloway’s party just days before it selects its next leader may have made national headlines, don’t you think?

Respect has backed Labour politicians in previous elections. Elsewhere in the country it has backed Greens and members of other parties. This is perfectly sensible for a young, small party. But none of these examples have drawn your opprobrium, nor did anyone call them a ‘pact’. Why do you think this is?

Oh, I’m fairly sure that the writers of the dictionary didn’t have political parties in mind when they defined pact. You should think more broadly. Lutfur could be one party, Respect the other. And Lutfur in this election is Labour. And of course, it has made national headlines.

Respect has never backed Labour in a council election and the anger over that decision is apparent over at Socialist Unity. You’re right, Respect making a pact with parties that have no chance of power has not drawn my opprobrium. Why would it?

There’s a slighly large difference here, wouldn’t you say? It was Respect which forced this election and it did exceptionally well to do so. Strange then that it didn’t field a candidate for the prize it fought so hard for. Not only that, it has decided to back a man and his supporters it has spent the last three years criticising in the council chamber. Con?

Respect could easily have put someone up at the same time criticising those it believes guilty of conducting a witch-hunt against Lutfur. Instead, it has effectively said it backs all his policies, ie Labour policies. If Lutfur’s policies aren’t Labour policies, then Labour might have something to say about that.

Well allow me to rephrase. You have no evidence that there is a pact between Respect and anybody else, otherwise surely you would have presented it. Your conjecture might be entirely true, but there is not yet any evidence for it in the public domain. If you still consider yourself a journalist, perhaps you could look for some.

Friendly Lefty, Wake Up to reality, have you not seen the series called ‘V’. They are dressed up in Labour colours, but have a completely separate agenda of their own right, not to be shared with anyone outside their clan.
The excuse that Lutfur has been subject to a ‘witch-hunt’ by Labour HQ or his own party comrades, triggering their ‘sudden’ support for him instead of putting up their own candidate is nonsense. The only truth to that is the fact that many knew Lutfur was working with Respect leaders and activists all along the road to trigering and succeeding in the Yes for Mayor vote. It is no coincidence that the design and artwork of the ‘YES FOR MAYOR’ campaign and ‘LUTFUR FOR MAYOR’ campaign is identical – because it was/is the same campaign so over-expenditure go out of the window!
Face it, Labour are in trouble now because they allowed the likes of Oli, Rania & Mummy to become members, and bring with them, hoardes of Respect activists and candidates, now who are GC and ordinary members of the Labour party. Respects early undivided support for Lutfur’s Labour party is a threat to Labour; They either accept him as a Labour Mayor (although they have no control over him), or loose any control they may salvage, to the threat that he will win it without the Labour party tag with the likes of Respect not dithering what would have been a Labour vote!

Shireen Islam is right. The increasingly pathetic Jim Fitzpatrick is to blame for the entry of Begum, Khan and Oliur Rahman into the Labour Group thinking it will benefit him personally. Quite the opposite.

What a mess. All that concerned people can now do is try their best to keep an close eye on how Lutfur runs the council. The likes of businessmen Clifton, Medialink, Pride of Asia and Banglatown C&C did not invest thousands in the campaign for the benefit of our diverse community. They will all now demand lucrative contracts so we shall see many ‘Alias’ companies propping up now doing business with the council who have never done so before. This is their BIG prize, it’s now all about who you know, rather than what you know – Good Luck Tower Hamlets!

Shireen, I think you need to seriously consider what you’re saying. You sound like a total conspiracy theorist. ‘V’? You’re referencing a graphic novel? And saying I’m the one who needs to ‘wake up to reality’? Haha.